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<H1>Arhaeopteryx (Aves)</H1>
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<H2>An Early Bird</H2>
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A particulary important and still contentious discovery is <i>Archaeopteryx lithographica</i>, found in the <a href='http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/jurassic/jurassintro.html'>Jurassic</a> <a href='http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/jurassic/solnhofen.html'>Solnhofen Limestone</a> of southern Germany, which is marked by rare but exceptionally well preserved fossils. <i>Archaeopteryx</i> is considered by many to be the first bird, being of about 150 million years of age.  It is actually intermediate between the birds that we see flying around in our backyards and the predatory dinosaurs like <a href='http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/saurischia/dromaeosauridae.html'><i>Deinonychus</i></a>. In fact, one skeleton of <i>Archaeopteryx</i> that had poorly preserved feathers was originally described as a skeleton of a small bipedal dinosaur, <a href='http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/saurischia/coelurosauria.html'> <i>Compsognathus</i></a>. A total of seven specimens of the bird are known at this time.
<p>It has long been accepted that <i>Archaeopteryx</i> was a transitional form between birds and reptiles, and that it is the earliest known bird
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